WAC vs. Pac-10: Nevada Wolf Pack Dominates Cal Bears

It was an epic night in Reno. Unbeaten and ranked, Cal came into Reno favored to win and left town battered and stunned as the Nevada Wolf Pack thrashed the Golden Bears 52-31.

Nevada led from the start under the balanced attack of senior QB Colin Kaepernick, who went 10-of-15 in the air for 181 yards while rushing for 148. With nearly 500 yards of total offense, Nevada continued to demonstrate that they truly are one of the premiere offenses in the country.

But the real story is not their prodigious offense. Anyone who has watched Nevada over the past three years has seen that. The Wolf Pack led the nation last year in rushing.

What has emerged this year is Nevada's defense, a smothering, stifling defense. I saw it last week against Colorado State, but most wrote it off since it was against a very weak team.

But Cal is no pushover. They destroyed Colorado last week 52-7 and pundits were calling them the potential class of the PAC-10.

When Nevada dominated on defense against a powerful PAC-10 team, I think it is safe to say, the Wolf Pack now has was it needed, defense.

If readers are surprised by this result, you shouldn't be. After all, Nevada has scored 135 points against Boise State in the last three games and managed to lose all three by a combined margin of only 20 points.

If Nevada had only possessed a modicum of defense over the past three years, no one would be talking about Boise State. Well, Nevada now has a defense that appears worthy of being paired with its offense.

Nevada takes on BYU next week. If they win that game, they could potentially roll through the rest of their schedule setting up a fantastic match up with Boise State on Thanksgiving weekend in Reno.

That assumes, of course, that Boise State runs the table as well.

The pundits had better start paying attention to Nevada and their phenomenal QB, Colin Kaepernick.

He has already eclipsed Tim Tebow's rushing TD total and will likely finish his career at Nevada with stats that place him among the greatest college QBs of all time.